Biomedical subjects

I Kiss

Publications and source records attributed to I Kiss.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2002

Impaired accommodation of proximal stomach in patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis.

BACKGROUND: Impaired gastric emptying has previously been detected by ultrasonography in cirrhotic patients, and the role of the type of meal has also been discussed. While these earlier studies dealt with the distal part of the stomach, the aim of our study was to examine the effects of three different types of meal on the proximal stomach in cirrhotic patients. METHODS: The proximal stomach was examined by ultrasonography in 15 healthy volunteers and in 21 alcoholic cirrhotic patients. The subjects received a liquid meal with a low calorie content and two different semisolid test meals with a low calorie content or high calorie and fat contents. The proximal gastric size was assessed by ultrasonography in a sagittal area and a frontal diameter. On the basis of assessment of the autonomic nervous function, the cirrhotic patients were divided into two groups: autonomic neuropathy positive and autonomic neuropathy negative. RESULTS: The postcibal gastric size immediately after ingestion of the liquid test meal was significantly lower in the cirrhotic patients than in the healthy controls. In the healthy volunteers, the measures of the proximal gastric size were significantly higher than in either group of cirrhotic patients at to, and at 10, 20 or 30 min after ingestion of a semisolid test meal with low calorie and fat contents. The proximal gastric sizes in the three groups of investigated subjects did not differ when the meal with high fat and calorie contents was tested. When the liquid meal was administered, the proximal gastric size was significantly lower in the cirrhotic patients with autonomic neuropathy. A significant intragroup difference was not observed when the semisolid meals were tested. CONCLUSIONS: This study reveals an impairment of the proximal stomach in alcoholic cirrhotic patients. The low calorie liquid meal distinguishes between the two groups of cirrhotic patients and healthy controls.

Autonomic Nervous System Diseases↗

PubMed2002

Improvement in cognitive functioning in patients with first-episode psychosis during treatment with quetiapine: an interim analysis.

BACKGROUND: The efficacies of second-generation antipsychotic medications in reducing symptoms are reasonably well-documented, but their effects on cognition are less clearly understood. AIMS: To under take an interim analysis of an open label, 2-year study examining the effects of quetiapine on cognition in patients with a first episode of schizophrenia and related disorders. METHOD: Cognitive testing was performed before quetiapine was initiated and repeated after 3, 6 and 12 months of treatment. To date, 13 patients have been fully assessed (mean dose 517.9 mg/day; s.d. = 225.8). RESULTS: Statistically significant improvement was noted on measures of attention (Continuous Performance Test; CPT), verbal productivity (Verbal Fluency Test) and executive function (Object Alternation Test) after 6 and 12 months of treatment. For the CPT, improvement was also noted after 3 months of treatment. CONCLUSIONS: During treatment for 1 year with quetiapine, cognitive performance was improved in young patients with psychosis. Continued controlled investigations of the effects of quetiapine on cognition are desirable.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

Torovirus detection in faecal specimens of calves and pigs in Hungary: short communication.

Bovine torovirus is an established aetiological agent of disease in cattle, while porcine torovirus has only been isolated from healthy animals. Evidence for the presence of torovirus has been described in several European countries and also in the United States. A survey was performed to detect toroviruses in Hungary by means of sampling ten swine and nine bovine herds. Rectal swabs and faecal specimens were collected from diarrhoeic calves and from weaned piglets. The samples were tested by the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using torovirus-specific primers and the positive samples were further examined by electron microscopy (EM). Torovirus was detected in 4 diarrhoeic calves (out of 111) and in 10 healthy weaned pigs (out of 200 tested), representing two of the 9 calf herds and two of the 10 pig herds tested. This is the first report of exact diagnosis of torovirus in Hungary.

Animals↗

PubMed2001

[Mortality of breast cancer and frequency of mammography in Hungary].

The Hungarian breast cancer mortality is above the European average. Because of the lack of effective primary prevention, the control has to be based on the improving results of treatment which is much more successful in the case of early detected cancers. Beyond the patients collaboration and the application of the recommended diagnostic protocols, the population based screening programs have high importance in achieving earlier diagnosis. This study aimed to describe the regional differences of mammography's application as an indicator of diagnostic and screening performance. The records of the outpatient services' reports containing the code for native X-ray examination of the breast were analysed in the period of 01/07/1998 to 30/04/2000. The age specific and the age standardised relative frequencies of mammographical examination were determined for the Hungarian counties and Budapest. The observed age specific frequency of mammography for the whole country was 17, 21, 11 and 4% for the age group of 40-49, 50-59, 60-69 and 70-74 years, respectively. The lowest observed values were 10 times smaller than the highest ones in every studied age group. The age standardised relative frequency of mammographical examination was higher than the national average in Tolna (2.52), Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén (1.48), Zala (1.41), Baranya (1.33), and Csongrád (1.27) counties and in Budapest (1.35). The described data demonstrates that the Hungarian practice of mammography is far from acceptable considering the frequency of application. On the other hand, it was also explored that serious geographical differences exist within the country. It seems that there are providers that can achieve relative successes in diagnosing the breast cancers in as early stage as it is possible. The evaluation and utilisation of the experiences of these providers could increase the efficacy of interventions organised to improve the Hungarian epidemiological status of breast cancer.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

[Analgesics-induced chronic renal failure in patients on dialysis therapy in Hungary].

In recent years elaboration of the diagnosis of analgesic-nephropathy (ANP) with the help of imaging techniques significantly increased the possibility of diagnosing the disease. Therefore, evaluating the prevalence of ANP has become more accurate in our country as well. The prevalence of ANP has been investigated in patients who have newly been taken into the dialysis program due to renal disease of unknown aetiology in 22 dialysis centers between December 1994-December 1997. The diagnosis of ANP has been based on revealing chronic drug abuse in the history and positive results of renal imaging (decrease in length of both kidneys combined with either bumpy contours and/or papillary calcification). Among 284 patients dialysed with unknown diagnosis 42 (14.8% of all cases) proved to have ANP. All patients except 2 took analgesic mixtures containing phenacetin/paracetamol, phenason derivatives, acetilsalysilic acid, caffeine and/or codeine. According to their investigations, ANP is a common disease resulting in end-stage renal failure in Hungary as well.

Acetaminophen↗

PubMed2001

Biodegradation of sulfanilic acid by Pseudomonas paucimobilis.

An aerobic bacterium, isolated from a contaminated site, was able to degrade sulfanilic acid (4-aminobenzenesulfonic acid) and was identified as Pseudomonas paucimobilis. The isolate could grow on sulfanilic acid (SA) as its sole carbon and nitrogen source and metabolized the target compound to biomass. The bioconversion capacity depended on the sulfanilic acid concentration; greater than 98% elimination of the hazardous compound was achieved at low (10 mM) sulfanilic acid concentration, and the yield was greater than 70% at 50 mM concentration of the contaminant. The maximum conversion rate was 1.5 mmol sulfanilic acid/h per mg wet cells at 30 degrees C. Ca-alginate-phytagel proved a good matrix for immobilization of P. paucimobilis, with essentially unaltered biodegradation activity. Removal of sulfanilic acid from contaminated industrial waste water was demonstrated. SDS-PAGE analysis of the crude extract revealed novel proteins appearing upon induction with sulfanilic acid and related compounds, which indicated alternative degradation mechanisms involving various inducible enzymes.

Biodegradation, Environmental↗

PubMed2001

Hydrogen-dependent denitrification in a two-reactor bio-electrochemical system.

An autotrophic biological process was developed for the treatment of nitrate-contaminated drinking water. The system comprised of two steps: the water to be treated was first enriched with hydrogen (energy source) in the cathodic chamber of an electrochemical cell, and then denitrified in the bioreactor. The bioreactor was a packed bed of granulated activated carbon, and the water flow was directed in an upward continuous mode. The system was operated for one year, at various water velocities and current intensities. Denitrification rates up to 0.25 kg N m-3 d-1 were obtained at the hydraulic residence time of 1 h. The system was stable. When detected in the effluent, the concentration of nitrite was low, even under conditions that resulted in the elution of very high concentrations of nitrate.

Bioreactors↗

PubMed2001

Working memory deficits associated with chronic fatigue syndrome.

Cognitive impairments are among the most frequently reported and least investigated components of the chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). As part of a multifaceted study of the CFS, the present study investigated the cognitive functioning of chronic fatigue patients. The performance of 20 CFS patients was compared to that of controls (N = 20) on 4 tests of working memory (WM). Digit Span Forward was used to assess the storage capacity of WM. Multiple aspects of central executive functioning were assessed using several standard measures: Digit Span Backward, and Trails A and Trails B. More recently developed measures of WM were used to assess control of processing under temporal demands (working memory task) and resistance to interference (a sustained attention task). Deficits were restricted to more demanding tasks, requiring resistance to interference and efficient switching between processing routines. The overall results clearly implicate deficits in the control aspects of central executive function in CFS.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2001

Association between gastric cancer mortality and nitrate content of drinking water: ecological study on small area inequalities.

The carcinogenic feature of N-nitroso compounds has been well established. Similarly, the transformation of ingested nitrate to N-nitroso compounds in the stomach has been thoroughly documented, nevertheless nitrates' carcinogenic effect has not been proved convincingly in human. The present study was aimed to investigate a population of small villages provided by drinking water with high and widely variable nitrate content (72 mg/l median, 290.7 mg/l 95-percentile concentration). Empirical Bayes estimates for settlement-specific age-, sex-, and year-standardised mortality ratios of gastric cancer (GC) were related to the settlement level average nitrate concentrations in drinking water controlling for confounding effects of smoking, ethnicity and education. The log-transformed average nitrate concentration showed significant positive association with stomach cancer mortality in linear regression analysis (p = 0.014). The settlements were aggregated according to the nitrate concentration into 10-percentile groups and the standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) were calculated. Those groups with higher than 88 mg/l average nitrate concentration showed substantial risk elevation and the log-transformed exposure variables proved to be significant predictors of mortality (p = 0.032) at this level of aggregation also. The association seemed to be fairly strong (r2 = 0.46). Although this investigation constituting an ecological study has certain limitations, it supports the hypothesis that the high level of nitrate in drinking water is involved in the development of GC.

Bayes Theorem↗

PubMed2001

Cofilin/ADF is required for cell motility during Drosophila ovary development and oogenesis.

The driving force behind cell motility is the actin cytoskeleton. Filopodia and lamellipodia are formed by the polymerization and extension of actin filaments towards the cell membrane. This polymerization at the barbed end of the filament is balanced by depolymerization at the pointed end, recycling the actin in a 'treadmilling' process. One protein involved in this process is cofilin/actin-depolymerizing factor (ADF), which can depolymerize actin filaments, allowing treadmilling to occur at an accelerated rate. Cofilin/ADF is an actin-binding protein that is required for actin-filament disassembly, cytokinesis and the organization of muscle actin filaments. There is also evidence that cofilin/ADF enhances cell motility, although a direct requirement in vivo has not yet been shown. Here we show that Drosophila cofilin/ADF, which is encoded by the twinstar (tsr) gene, promotes cell movements during ovary development and oogenesis. During larval development, cofilin/ADF is required for the cell rearrangement needed for formation of terminal filaments, stacks of somatic cells that are important for the initiation of ovarioles. It is also required for the migration of border cells during oogenesis. These results show that cofilin/ADF is an important regulator of actin-based cell motility during Drosophila development.

Actin Depolymerizing Factors↗

PubMed2001

Age-related decline in perception of prosodic affect.

Perception of affect in speech is an important aspect of language, often conveying more about the intent of the speaker than semantic content. Impairment of perception of affect is seen in patients with right-hemisphere lesions. Nevertheless, little attention is paid to perception of emotional prosody in clinical neuropsychology. We present data concerning a revised version of the Emotional Perception Test (EPT-R), which indicates that older participants are significantly worse in prosodic perception than IQ-matched younger participants. The apparent age-related differences in perception of prosody are similar in magnitude to those seen on memory tests.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Bovine abortion associated with Neospora caninum in Hungary.

The authors report the first case of bovine neosporosis in Hungary based on investigations made on an aborted fetus. The diagnostic methods included traditional as well as molecular techniques. This record extends further the geographic range of the disease.

Abortion, Veterinary↗

PubMed2001

Role of environmental factors on the reproducibility of Lemna test.

Lemna minor is a species easy to collect and culture in laboratory, and can give rapid test results. However, in order to standardise toxicity tests using Lemna minor as test organism, it is important to find out what natural variability different populations might have. Five Lemna populations were used for comparison. It contained two standard cultures and three populations collected in natural habitats. Potassium dichromate was applied as test material. Lemna populations cultured under the same conditions showed different T(D) and LC50 values. There is an inverse relation between the sensitivity and T(D) of the strains. It is supposed that growth rate and sensitivity of Lemna populations depend on environmental factors characterising the habitat in which the given popluation originally lives.

Magnoliopsida↗

PubMed2001

[Investigation of oncogene amplification or deletion, and oncoprotein expression in papillary thyroid cancer]

AIM: Assessment of occurrence and possible prognostic significance of c-myc and Ha-ras amplification, p53 deletion and overexpression of cyclin D1, p53 and p21 in papillary thyroid cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor tissue from 24 patients were investigated. Dot-blot DNA hybridization was used to detect oncogene amplification or deletion. The expression of oncoproteins was determined by immunohistochemical method. RESULTS: In our samples neither Ha-ras amplification nor p53 deletion were found. Low c-myc amplification (mean: 2.55) occured in 4 cases (17%). p53 protein was detected in 16 samples (66.6%), with p21 expression (chi(2)=7.02, p<0.01) in 6 cases (25%). The p53 expression did not influence the tumor fenotype. Cyclin D1 overexpression was found in 12 cases (50%), it was often associated with p21 expression (chi2=10.1, p<0.001) and in inverse relation to the tumor lymphocytic infiltration (chi(2)=5.35, p<0.05). Increased expression of estrogen receptor was shown in 4 cyclin D1 positive samples (17%). CONCLUSIONS: The p53 detected in our study is likely not to be mutant protein in all cases because its presence was associated with p21 expression that the mutant protein cannot induce and also it did not mean more aggressive tumor phenotype. The connection of cyclin D1 overexpression with the lymphocytic infiltration of the tumor suggests that the increased expression of cyclin D1 means poor prognosis. The coexpression of cyclin D1 and p21 raises the modulative character of the p21 protein, thought to be a tumor suppressor originally, but we find a CDK-independent, estrogen receptor mediated effect of cyclin D1 more likely, which has been described in breast cancer and is also proved by the coexpression of cyclin D1 and estrogen receptor detected here.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2001

[In vitro testing for drug resistance and drug sensitivity in clinical oncology].

In vitro methods for testing chemosensitivity and chemoresistance can contribute considerably to more individual chemotherapy of a given patient. Different tests which reflect with a different reliability and specificity the probable ineffectiveness of chemotherapy can be divided into several categories: 1. Indirect tests associated with general biological activity of the tumour. 2. Tests based on the specific relationship to a certain cytostatic. 3. Examination of hormonal receptors. 4. Direct tests based on testing of the sensitivity or resistance of a tumour to different cytostatics in primocultures or stabilized cultures. The submitted review presents information on different methods.

Animals↗

PubMed2001

[Personal experience with intra-arterial locoregional chemotherapy of liver metastases from colorectal carcinoma].

Locoregional chemotherapy is one of the possible ways of treatment of inoperable metastatic affection of the liver by colorectal carcinoma. The advantage of regional administration of the cytostatic is the possibility to achieve a higher local concentration of the cytostatic associated with a higher percentage of therapeutic responses. In our department we preferred combined locoregional intraarterial chemotherapy (5-fluorouracil/Mitmycin C/Doxorubicin) combined with systemic intravenous chemotherapy (5-fluorouracil/leukovirin). Locoregional cghemotherapy was administered in the majority as chemotherapy of series 2 or 3 with a very good tolerance. In 2/19 patients we observed marked diminution of liver metastases and subsequent operability and with a duration of complete response for 13 and 18 months. In 7/19 patients a partial therapeutic response was achieved. The total therapeutic response (complete and partial) was 47%. Locoregional chemotherapy attains a higher therapeutic response as compared with systemic chemotherapy and is associated with an acceptable toxicity.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols↗

PubMed2000

Prod is a novel DNA-binding protein that binds to the 1.686 g/cm(3) 10 bp satellite repeat of Drosophila melanogaster.

The proliferation disrupter (prod) gene of Drosophila melanogaster encodes a novel protein associated with centromeric chromosomal regions that is required for chromatin condensation and cell viability. We have examined the binding of the Prod protein to DNA in vitro. Co-immunoprecipitation experiments demonstrate that Prod is a DNA-binding protein that specifically recognizes the 10 bp AGAATAACAT satellite repeat of D.melanogaster. Footprinting experiments show that the protein interacts with a 5-8 bp target sequence in each 10 bp repeat and suggest that it can mediate condensation of this satellite into a superhelix. Gel retardation experiments indicate that Prod does not have a well defined DNA-binding domain and it binds the satellite in a co-operative manner, probably forming Prod multimers. Since Prod localizes to both heterochromatin and euchromatin in vivo, we discuss the possibility that the ability of pre-existing euchromatic proteins to bind DNA in a co-operative manner, might be a prerequisite of satellite compaction and satellite amplification, thereby providing a basic factor in heterochromatin evolution.

Animals↗

PubMed2000

[Placebo].

BACKGROUND: The placebo reaction is a widely known phenomenon but the way it develops is not fully understood. This fact has given rise to numerous misinformed opinions on this subject. PLACEBO ANALGESIA: More research has been done in the field of placebo analgesia, where the involvement of the endogenous opioid systems was discovered some twenty years ago. Recently there have been some new discoveries concerning the role of expectancy and drug conditioning in experimentally induced placebo analgesia. PLACEBO REACTION: The placebo reaction is very impressive not only following drug administration, but also after surgical operations. In many cases, it is extremely difficult to decide whether a therapeutic success is due to a given medical intervention or to a placebo response. The use of placebo controlled clinical studies remains an ethically charged issue.

English Abstract↗